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A good alternative to slaving over a cooker, if you want a tasty lunchtime meal

As a busy full time mum of two, it isn't always easy to make myself wholesome, homemade food for every meal of the day. As a rule I cook the family a nutritious tea from scratch, and lunch usually consists of sandwiches, soup and the like.

When I don't have the kids to think about feeding for a meal, I admit that I do tend to lean towards convenience options. Heinz pasta meals in a tin are, in my opinion, a good way of getting a tasty, hot meal without having to slave over an oven for half an hour.

Now I'm not expecting the Heinz Spaghetti Bolognese tin to be a substitute for my own homemade version -that would be a wholesome, homemade meal I would make in the evening. However, at a rough cost of £1 a tin, the Heinz version is a reasonable stand in over lunch when served with some crusty bread and butter.

The consistency of the contends of the tin don't always look very appetising when first opened. The sauce is quite gloopy and the pasta looks quite soft. However, once you start to heat it over a hob the sauce thins out and coats the spaghetti, making it all look rather more appealing.

The tomato sauce base is what you would expect from Heinz - rich, thick and tasty. The spaghetti is filling and of good length, if a little bit soft for my liking. There is a reasonable amount of beef/soya distributed throughout the mixture, and the texture is not unlike that of minced beef, if rather more sparse then one would put in a homemade meal. But as I say, this isn't meant to replace a homemade spaghetti Bolognese, but just as a quick, filling lunchtime alternative.

At around 300 calories a tin, this doesn't feel like too much of a sin either. It is low in fat and low in sugar, and has no artificial colours or preservatives - bonus!

In summary, if you are looking for a quick, tasty and filling lunchtime meal, this should tick all the boxes!

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Well I've been sat here with an empty tin of Heinz Spaghetti Bolognese next to the laptop for the last 5 hours or so and I think it's about time I got on with writing this review. I would have binned it after devouring the contents for my lunch but I know how you lot are sticklers for detail so I thought I ought to keep it for all the relevant nutritional information.

The tin is the same as I remember from childhood. It's a 400g tin with a bright yellow label that makes it hard to miss on the supermarket shelf. It has the infamous Heinz 57 varieties logo and pictures of some juicy looking tomatoes and a small portion of the spaghetti Bolognese itself which does closely resemble the actual product. The tin has a ring pull on it so no need to scramble about for a tin opener making this perfect for camping trips and summer festivals.

When you open the tin, the smell isn't overpowering but there is a faint aroma of tomato. You can heat this up on the hob or, if you're lazy like me, you can chuck it in a microwavable dish and heat it up in a total of 2½ minutes.

So how does it taste? Well, if you're looking for an authentic Italian spaghetti Bolognese then this isn't for you. The appearance and flavour of the Heinz version is completely different. The spaghetti is completely coated in the sauce which has a meaty, tomato flavour. It's quite a sweet taste with the addition of some herbs and spices that give it a unique taste that really is specific to the Heinz version. If you've tried cheap tins of spaghetti Bolognese from other brands, they really are a poor substitute compared to this. It also doesn't look like the most appealing of meals. The sauce contains small bits of mince but it doesn't have the meaty texture of a homemade Bolognese. It also has a quite bright orange colour to it as opposed to the reddish shade you might expect. Call me strange, but it is all these strange features that make me love this stuff!

It brings back fond childhood memories and served with some toast it makes a great, quick meal. I wouldn't eat it on a regular basis but on days like today when I really couldn't be bothered cooking a meal from scratch, this hits the spot!

And so for some nutritional info (I knew I was holding on to this empty tin for a reason!) The tin suggests that a serving is half of the tin but to me that would be quite a meager portion, even with the addition of toast or something else to bulk the meal out. I am proud to say, I scoff a whole tin in one sitting or near enough anyway! It can sometimes begin to get a little sickly towards the end and there is a generous serving of sauce with the spaghetti so I usually leave a bit of that.

The following nutritional details are for a half tin serving, so you'll need to double them if you're as greedy as me!

So whilst it might not be the healthiest meal in the world, it certainly isn't the worst thing you could eat. The tin does draw your attention to the fact that it is a low fat and low sugar meal so it can't be all that bad! It also contains gluten, wheat and soya so it's a no no if you're allergic to any of those. If you're not though, then pile in! I paid something like 69p for a tin of this in Farmfoods although it can be more expensive in other supermarkets. It still works out though as a cheap, filling ready meal for days when cooking from scratch is too daunting!

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Expensive for what it is

Heinz Spaghetti Bolognese is a complete pasta meal in a tin. The tin itself is yellow with a red and orange picture of the product on the front and white writing. It looks similar to all other Heinz pasta meals.

This is a low fat and low sugar product so it is good for those who like to keep an eye on what they are eating. At least that's what it says on the tin.

The tin holds 400g of spaghetti bolognese so one tin is supposed to be two portions. Personally I don't think it's enough without toast, or something else to bulk it out a bit.

I certainly wouldn't call it a pasta meal. It's more like a pasta snack.

Half a tin gives you 159cals, 2.9g fat and 1.4g salt. It contains gkuten as well as soya and wheat so it may not be suitable for anyone with allergies, or intollerance to gluten, or wheat.

This product has no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

Tis is vey easy to prepare in a pan on the cooker by heating gently until hot but not boiling.

You can also microwave it for 1.5 minutes in a microwave, stir, and heat for another minute. (Based on 850w microwave.)

The main ingredient here is spaghetti made fron durum wheat semolina. The sauce is bright in colour and based on tomato with soya protein, beef (4%) cornflour, garlic and herbs. It also has caramel for coloring.

Taste wise it is quite spicey but not hot. The tiny amount of beef in the sauce is like fine bits of gritty stuff.

The over all effect is Heinz spaghetti in tomato sauce with added garlic and herbs and a sprinkle of powdered beef.

I cannot be sure but it wouldn't surprise me if this was the same recipe as Heinz Spaghetti in tomato sauce with a few additions.

This product can be improved by adding chopped bacon, or sprinkling with grated cheese but I didn' think it was worth the 80p I paid for it.

I would have been better offer spending 40p on the ordinary spaghetti and adding cheese and bacon to that.

This is quite tasty but not something I would go out of my way to buy again. Basically I didn't think it was value for money and it didn't live up to the quality I expect from Heinz.